Our project is a 1909 period film pilot about cryptozoology. The search for mythological or unproven creatures. A Faustian tale about loosing oneself in the process of achieving our goals.

Dr. Marlowe, a paleontologist and professor, finds a piece of a map pointing to the place where the Ningyo, the mythical Japanese creature, could be found. The legend claims whomever consumes its flesh will attain remarkable longevity. He presents the project to his peers, who mock and dismiss him as a fraud. He decides to risk everything and go after the Ningyo on his own in hopes to bring to light what could be one of the greatest contributions to science. What he could not anticipate is that, in his search, he is confronted with a choice that puts the very foundations of his morality to the test.

Our film is a character driven piece set around true historical events that were happening during the turn of the century. The world is grounded in a realistic tone mixed with fantasy elements.

There's a saying that goes "science kills magic." What makes this era so appealing to us as storytellers is that anything was possible. The world was not fully discovered, science was still in its infancy, and the possibility of creatures and monsters were very real.

This was a time when creatures that were once considered mythological or fictitious were actually being discovered. Monsters were being excavated in the golden era of paleontology. The Okapi or as it was called "the African Unicorn" once considered a mythic creature, was found in the Congo in 1901, and was thereafter adopted as an emblem by the International Society of Cryptozoology.

Left to Right, The Okapi, Giant Squid, Tasmanian Tiger, Rhino

In the early turn of the century conservation and hunting crossed paths. The conflicting mentality was to find the most exotic animals, kill them, and "preserve" them. This was seen as a way of bringing public attention to wildlife and to habitat conservation before they became extinct.

The Collection of H.Prestor Sealous (work in progress set)

A character piece that happens to have creatures; not a creature film that happens to have characters.

Our characters are inspired by the scientists, naturalists, and explorers of the day, which include:

Carl Akeley: a prolific explorer and the father of modern-day taxidermy

Frederick Sealous: the famous hunter who inspired Author H. Rider Haggard to create Allan Quatermain who is the basis of Indiana Jones.

Grover Krantz: the 1960s anthropology professor and the first serious researcher to delve into the world of cryptozoology.

Like Indiana Jones, which we love, we want to delve into some fantastical elements; however, we want to keep the consequences of our characters' actions more grounded in reality, death should have a deeper weight. And any character can die. We are more interested in the psychological than in the action.

"Characters first" doesn't mean that we don't love creatures!. This series of films will be jam packed with new and inventive creatures. The only requirement we have is to make creatures that could possibly exist, If you think of an Apatosaurus and then look at a Pink fairy armadillo, you will realize anything is possible. Just no "Heavy Metal" monsters.

Every creature in the film is designed from scratch by our team

Avoid the obvious...no Bigfoot, no Lochness Monster, no Unicorns, etc.
There are thousands of amazing cryptid myths and folklores about creatures from different cultures around the world. We want to find the most obscure mythological creatures; the ones with the richest stories and tie them into our world.

If there is technology, it should be the completeopposite of something like "Iron Man". Instead of fast we go Slow, instead of "high-tech" we have leaks, oil spills, and malfunctions.

In other words the technological reality of that time. no ray guns and no robotic nazi gorillas.Any tech used has to be plausible for the era.

*suit inspired by deep sea suit created in 1882 by the Carmagnolle Brothers of France

Every set is built by the two of us in our living room or bedroom. Every inch of our house (besides the bathroom) has been converted into a set, all the antiques were purchased on Craigslist for as cheap as we could get them; restored, refinished, restained to look their best. A period film is expensive, but by using our wits instead of our wallets we have managed to find ways of making this possible.

The Green Ruby Pumpkin: is a short film we made inspired by the work on Edward Gorey, Dr.Seuss, Charles Addams and Shel SIlverstein.

Although completely different in tone and style, it shows what is possible with $7,000. Created entirely in the living room, every costume, set, and creature was created and art directed by hand. We now have more equipment, an amazing crew of artists which we are lucky to be a part of and the determination to get this done.

We live for this stuff. We want to try doing creature films that don't fall into the typical formula. We want to try a creature film that treats monsters and creatures as plausible, not as fantastical (even if they are). We want to try a tone that isn't typical to this genre of films, blending history with creatures with a tone more in line with, "There will be blood", "Devils Backbone" and other period tragedies. We realize this is nothing like the Green Ruby Pumpkin, but the truth is we love "Bambi" as much as We love the "Exorcist"!----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 100 or more
About $100

Screen used small creature specimen inside glass jar with custom label. Signed (if you wish) by creators Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma. PLUS Your name in the on-screen credits under special thanks, blu-ray, digital download, special thanks on website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 200 or more
About $200

Film poster signed by cast and crew, 5 high quality limited edition prints of pre-production art, PLUS Screen used creature specimen inside Glass jar with custom label. Signed (if you wish) by creators Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma. Your name in the on-screen credits under special thanks, blu-ray, digital download, special thanks on website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 300 or more
About $300

Screen Used hand painted Head Oddity inside glass dome with wooden base, Each piece is custom made and Signed by Creators and Cast. PLUS your name in the on-screen credits under special thanks, blu-ray, digital download, special thanks on website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 500 or more
About $500

YOUR CREATURE PORTRAIT: Submit a high resolution image of yourself and we will transform it into a fantastical/horrific Creature. Each piece is custom painted by Creature Designers Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma. Each piece comes printed, aged and in an old fashioned Victorian frame.

Also includes Blu-ray of film, Tshirt, Digital Download, special thanks on film website.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 2,000 or more
About $2,000

Walk in role in the film. Show up to LA, we put you in some period clothes and youre on set. Hang out with us for an entire day as we shoot for the day. Co-producer credit on IMDB and in the on-screen credits, Bluray, Poster

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 3,000 or more
About $3,000

VFX Boot-Camp learning session! Learn something about how to do what we do. 10, 3 hour classes on how to create digital environments for the film industry. PLUS film poster signed by cast and crew, 5 high quality limited edition prints of pre-production art, blu-ray, digital download, credit on website.